Using computer on solar power during this Stage 2 power alert, here is a website posting about gasoline supply and price woes.

Hyperlink: http://www.opisnet.com/intraday.htm

Copyright, Oil Price Information Service, Fair Use for Education and Research Only

"OPIS Countdown To Summer Drive Season"

All year, OPIS Editors have warned about the potential for $3 per/gal retail gasoline prices this spring and summer. Now's the time to prepare for the wild ride, with spot and wholesale gasoline and diesel prices reaching stunning levels -- huge retail gas spikes are just around the corner...

April 10, 2001, OPIS Reports:

..."The violent wholesale increases of the last 21 days pushed the nationwide pump price through $1.50 gal this morning," notes Fred Rozell," Retail Pricing Director for OPIS. ...Marketers buying fuel on the wholesale markets face the worst margin squeeze since the Persian Gulf War. ...Wholesale prices are moving up by 5 times the rate of street prices. ...dozens of suppliers increased prices on an intraday basis with some double digit moves for gas and diesel. ...Spot gasoline prices spiked higher at a breakneck pace, with some regional grades up as much as 54% from March 20. ...Most markets have seen increases of 20-30cts gal, and costs for high octane reformulated gasoline have advanced by nearly 45cts gal in the northeast. ...New record highs were seen for spot prices in New York, the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the Midwestern Group 3 market. ...Refinery maintenance has dragged on much longer than expected and the trading community fears that supplies will be especially snug going into the Summer driving season. ... The price of premium reformulated gasoline, used by New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, has risen some 54% or 44.5 cts/gal since March 20. ...Some refiners are having difficulty making premium gasoline to meet EPA standards.

And this is just the beginning -- just one April Afternoon...

Hundreds of today's most savvy petroleum professionals subscribe to this powerful e-mail alerts service and are instantly alerted to... wild price spikes...terminal outages...refinery problems...NYMEX moves...inventory analysis...and much more

NJ OFFICE - Editorial/Marketing OPIS Energy Group 1255 Hwy 70, Suite 32N Lakewood, NJ 08701 Phone: 732-901-8800 Fax: 732-901-9632 MD OFFICE - Customer Service OPIS Energy Group 11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 1100 Rockville, MD 20852 Phone: 301-287-2645 Fax: 301-816-8945

-- Robert Riggs (rxr.999@worldnet.att.net), May 07, 2001

Answers

REFINERY PROBLEMS, REFINERY PROBLEMS.... Are they all crashing from old age - or is it Y2K?

-- John littmann (LITTMANNJOHNTL@AOL.COM), May 07, 2001.